If you’re itching for something out of this world what could compete with travelling back in time with the Australian Centre for the Moving Image? Australia’s national museum of film, tv, video games, digital culture and art is in Melbourne’s Federation square. Screen Worlds is an exciting and free new exhibition at ACMI showing the […]

Artist John Cox’s exhibition at the Gold Coast Arts Centre, How to Make a Monster, is a winner for family-oriented fun. The colourful, interactive and slightly scientific exhibition offers a unique insight into the intriguing world of animatronics. The first hall of two is home to the Academy Award presented to John Cox’s Creature Workshop […]

An investigative journalism group has become the first major news organisation to launch on the Dark Web. Pro Publica, a non-profit investigative journalism news service dedicated to public interest stories, has launched a version of its site on the Dark Web. But an Australian cyber security expert predicts mainstream media are unlikely to follow. Associate […]

A Brisbane magistrate has criticised tap-and-go technology after a man went on a shopping spree when he found a debit card outside a supermarket. The court was told Colin Leslie Saunders used the no-PIN pay-pass facility to obtain goods illegally after finding the card at a Newmarket shopping centre. Wendy Cull, SM, said the pay-wave […]

Opportunities for citizen journalists have been opened in a multi-media newsroom project at the State Library of Queensland. CitizenJ, an innovation of the library’s digital cultural centre The Edge, will let people try their hand at reporting and editing, with a view to adding to media diversity. Training includes journalism, video, film editing, audio production, […]

Independent MP Peter Wellington says he is disappointed his notice of dissent on the TV cameras ban in the Queensland Parliament has been ruled out of order by Speaker Fiona Simpson. The ban on TV stations’ cameras for nine sitting days was announced by Ms Simpson last week. Mr Wellington tried to move dissent from […]

Electric cars on Australian roads lead the charge to a zero-emission future, but how soon will they become popular? Newsbytes asked a range of people, including car experts and members of the public, to find a mixture of views. Mitsubishi released the first mass-produced electric car to Australia’s fleet and government market in late 2010, […]

With almost 700,000 Queenslanders booked for speeding last year, the government denies speed cameras are used mainly for revenue-raising. Speed cameras brought in $69 million in revenue last year, while more than 110,000 people have been booked in the first two months of this year. A Newsbytes street poll has found people divided about traffic […]

Facebook has raised the ire of many of its Australian users by quietly rolling out a feature that charges users to highlight their posts. Although Facebook has always said it would remain free, the feature enables users to pay to ensure their posts are seen by more of their friends. The controversial feature was introduced […]

The State Government will restrict rail services to new and existing coal mines in the Galilee and Bowen Basins to only two corridors. Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney told Parliament the plan would replace the eight railways proposed by the previous government. There would be an extension for the east to west corridor on the existing […]

In a tribute to Captain Cook’s famous 18th century voyage to observe the Transit of Venus, the Endeavour replica sailed to Lord Howe Island in rough seas for the 2012 transit. The expedition by the national maritime museum and Sydney Observatory commemorated transit observations by the NSW government at Lord Howe in 1882 as well […]

Flood prevention backflow valves to be rolled out across Brisbane over the next four years will have to be individually designed. Lord Mayor Graham Quirk said this week the prevention devices would be implemented in 80 percent of the flood prone areas. The valves for each of the 39 outlets would all have different design. […]

It’s a date! On Wednesday 6 June 2012, the silhouette of Venus will transit across the sun for the last time this century. School children around Australia will be citizen scientists for a day as they repeat the same scientific experiment conducted by Captain Cook and astronomer Charles Green that led to the discovery of […]

A Newsbytes street poll has found people are not concerned about the idea of high-tech surveillance drones as long as they are used only for crime control. Queensland Police could trial unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the near future. Queensland Council for Civil Liberties president Michael Cope said he didn’t want to ban UAVs but […]

Leading a parade of sails across Sydney Harbour, HMB Endeavour returned home on Monday after her first circumnavigation of Australia. Under fair skies, the Australian-built replica of Captain Cook’s ship Endeavour received an enthusiastic escort led by the tug Endeavour and sister tall-ships James Craig and Southern Swan. Startling sea-gulls, she fired her cannon in […]